Pillow Talk: How to Make Standard Pillowcases (in 15 Minutes) with Any Fabric

Now that our master bathroom is at a good stoping point (not finished, but it’s coming along), I’m shifting gears to the master bedroom for a little bit, with a few projects. Starting with some DIY pillowcases that are made from…wait for it…a shower curtain?!

I know it’s weird, but cool fabric is cool fabric. And when I found this shower curtain on sale for less than $20, I treated it like yardage because I loved the print.

This project is a great beginner sewing DIY and takes about 15 minutes from start to finish – not bad right?! Click through for the tutorial.

Materials

• 1-2 yards of fabric
• sewing machine
• iron
• straight pins
• thread
• scissors

Instructions

Quick note: The measurements below are for a standard size pillowcase. If you want to make a queen or king size pillowcase instead, the measurement will vary slightly, but the adjustments will be minor.

1. Start by cutting two identical size pieces of fabric, that are each 33.5 inches long and 21 inches wide. This will create a 20×30 inch pillowcase when finished.

2. Create a seam for the outer edges of the pillowcase by folding over the fabric 3.5 inches (on the long end – where the opening will be). Then iron down the folded part and pin it, to keep it in place. Sew the bottom edge of that fabric to itself. This will create a faux cuff, kind of similar to the look of a french seam.

3. Repeat step 2 with the second piece of fabric.

4. Then put the right sides of the two fabric pieces together, line up the cuffs that you create in steps 2 and 3. The cuffs side is the opening side of the pillow. Pin the remaining three sides together with straight pins (be sure to keep the cuffed in open) and sew a straight line around the edges of the aiming three sides of the pillowcase.

5. Flip the pillowcase right side out and it’s ready to use.

And regarding the other pillows in the final shots, in case you want a source… those are a buy, not DIY. The grid print is under $30 for a set of 2, available on Spring. And the white quilted shams are from Parachute (available in 5 colors). Let me know if you have any other questions about bedroom stuff.

What do you think of this DIY pillowcase project? Think it’d be easy enough to tackle at home?